Sie saß so wie die anderen beim Tee. Mir war zuerst, als ob sie ihre Tasse ein wenig anders als die andern fasse. Sie lächelte einmal. Es tat fast weh. Und als man schließlich sich erhob und sprach und langsam und wie es der Zufall brachte durch viele Zimmer ging (man sprach und lachte), da sah ich sie. Sie ging den andern nach, verhalten, so wie eine, welche gleich wird singen müssen und vor vielen Leuten; auf ihren hellen Augen die sich freuten war Licht von außen wie auf einem Teich. Sie folgte langsam und sie brauchte lang als wäre etwas noch nicht überstiegen; und doch: als ob, nach einem Übergang, sie nicht mehr gehen würde, sondern fliegen.
Confirmed with, rilke.de
Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Die Erblindende", appears in Neue Gedichte, first published 1907 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Martin Christoph Redel (b. 1947), "Die Erblindende", op. 99 no. 4 (2020) [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Rilke-Gesänge, no. 4, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by James Blair Leishman (1902 - 1963) , "Going Blind" ; composed by Anne Charlotte Clarke.
Researcher for this text: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-07-30
Line count: 16
Word count: 118
She’d sat just like the others there at tea. And then I’d seemed to notice that her cup was being a little differently picked up. She’d smiled once. It had almost hurt to see. And when eventually they rose and talked, and slowly, and as chance led, were dispersing through several rooms there, laughing and conversing, I noticed her. Behind the rest she walked subduedly, like someone who presently will have to sing, and with so many listening; on those bright eyes of hers, with pleasure glistening, played, as on pools, an outer radiancy. She followed slowly and she needed time, as though some long ascent were not yet by; and yet, as though, when she had ceased to climb, she would no longer merely walk, but fly.
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Confirmed with Rainer Maria Rilke, Possibility of Being; A Selection of Poems, New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1977, p.38
Authorship:
- by James Blair Leishman (1902 - 1963), "Going Blind" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Die Erblindende", appears in Neue Gedichte, first published 1907
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Anne Charlotte Clarke (b. 1960), "Going blind", 1998 [ voices and band ], from Just After Sunset, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-09-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 128